Stanford gets Madoffed

It appears the punishing 150-year sentence meted out by a federal judge to Ponzi king Bernie Madoff is already having legal reprecussions.

A day after Madoff was sentenced to spend the rest of his life and then some in a federal prison, another federal judge in Texas sided with prosecutors in ordering R. Allen Stanford to remain in jail pending a trial on his own Ponzi-related charges. Now there’s no definitive connection between the Madoff sentencing and the ruling in the Stanford case, but it’s hard not to see some cause-and-effect.

After all, a federal magistrate judge initially ruled that the alleged $7 billion Ponzi mastermind could be released after posting $500,000 in bond. But a federal judge overruled that decision, agreeing with prosecutors that the one-time Texas billionaire is a flight risk.

It’s this kind of tough justice that may do more than anything the SEC could ever do to deter future scamsters.